For the Establishment of the Anti-Epidemic Institute

In December Juche 34 (1945), a few months after Korea’s liberation from the Japanese imperialist military occupation, the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung called an official in the sector of public health to his office.

He told the official that he had heard that many people suffering from diarrhea had appeared in Pyongyang recently, and asked him the reason for the continuous spread of the disease despite of cold weather. The official answered that different kinds of diseases including diarrhea did not stop spreading in Pyongyang due to the bad quality of drinking water.

Noting that Pyongyang had been famous for its beautiful mountains and clean water and scenic beauty from olden times, Kim Il Sung said that the natural environment of the city had been severely damaged during the vicious Japanese imperialist colonial rule.

Then he stressed the need to intensify anti-epidemic work to prevent epidemic diseases, saying that to this end, an all-people epidemic prevention system and relevant anti-epidemic units should be set up before anything else, and research institutes should be established so as to conduct research into epidemic diseases and prevent them by the country’s own efforts. 

Later, an institute specializing in preventing epidemic diseases was set up despite the difficult conditions after the country’s liberation.